Photo credit: Scott Levy

Okay, the subject line is a joke, but some people are being silly about Derek Stepan‘s game-winning goal last night. They’re saying it was Alex Ovechkin‘s fault– that his laziness on defense is a problem.

Here’s how it really went down.

After a long shift in the defensive zone, Marcus Johansson failed to clear the zone and pass to Alex Ovechkin, who was skating toward Lundqvist at center ice. A scramble for the puck ensued, and Stepan scored from the weak side. Ovechkin skated lazily towards Stepan as it happened.

Bad visual, but that’s all.

Deadspin’s headline for the play is Alexander Ovechkin Would Prefer Not To Play Defense because it fits cozily into a pernicious media narrative, but it’s not actually true. Recall if you will minutes earlier that same game when Ovechkin’s defensive backcheck was so enthusiastic it turns Martin Erat’s wrist into kindling.

Here’s the very first frame of the video of the play:

Ovechkin is hauling ass away from the play because he’s expecting a breakout pass so that he can enter the offensive zone on a rail and score the game-tying goal. He’s expecting competence from his linemates, which was the real tragic error here– not some dubious distaste for defense.

But that doesn’t stop media folks from using this an opportunity to lambast Alex Ovechkin for the same old thing. Media is a business– I get that, but let’s be honest: those writers and pundits are serving an agenda, not informing their audience.

Erat lies on the ice after colliding with Ovechkin and Stepan. (Photo credit: Bruce Bennett)

The Washington Capitals power play was very good this season; they scored a lot of goals on it. In the first period of game 4 on Thursday Night, though, it was very bad — so bad that the Rangers had more shorthanded chances than the Caps had shots on goal. One of those opportunities for New York was rather disastrous for Washington.

GIF by welshhockeyfan.

With about a minute and a half left in the first period, the Caps’ second power play unit took the puck up ice. Martin Erat attempted to dump the puck in, but it rattled around the endboards before falling into the lap of Derek Stepan. Racing up the ice, Stepan found himself on a partial breakaway, with Erat pressing him from behind. Alex Ovechkin made himself known as well, flying in to break up the play. Ovi clipped Stepan, getting tangled in the Ranger’s stick as he went. With Erat glued to Stephan, the three skaters violently tumbled to ice. Erat landed on his hand before sliding into Washington’s net. He stayed there, in too much pain to move.

Then the refs decided they’d make things worse for the Caps: Erat was given a soft hooking minor and Ovechkin, inexplicably, was assessed a penalty for charging. Ovi didn’t leave his feet or even really deliver a check. He just ran into the dude carrying the puck and happened to get him caught in his stick. Running into the guy with the puck is usually encouraged in the NHL.

Pierre McGuire, who is an idiot, called Ovechkin out for a headshot. But, since you are not an idiot, you can see that the point of contact was in fact Stephan’s left forearm.

Erat did not return.

Ouch. (Photo credit: Chris Gardner)

Doug Johnson is a Puck Buddy. This is his pregamer. This is teh twitterz.

The Pregame: Fun! Today’s installment of “Places That Smell” has us visiting the big macher of smells, New York City! Boo-yah!

This is fun because it’s true. The entire place is one massive reek… or, more accurately, hundreds of smaller little reeks. Did you know, for instance, that the five boroughs of New York City were formed not for political reasons, but as a way of keeping one smelly New Yorker from having to endure his pungent neighbors? The subway pretty much put an end to that, and now the whole place stinks like the laundry room in a European hostel. Anyone who’s been in either knows this to be gospel truth.

New Yorker

New Yorkers know this as well, but because they also have the thinnest skins of anyone on the planet, they simply cannot stand to hear others say it. So they will talk (or yell) themselves blue in the face trying to convince you that NYC is the single greatest concentration of fantastical awesomeness in the universe. Ugh, we get it. Face it, New York: you’re needier than a public radio pledge drive.

The Puck Drop

That said, needy isn’t the first word that comes to mind with the New York Rangers. Maybe shnook is. Or good… like, scary good. They’re 7-2-1 in the last ten (compare with our 4-3-3) with only the Devils yanking their tails, and at 35-13-3 they have fewer loses that anyone else in the NHL.

So what’s their secret, and how do we kick ‘em in the kishkes?

What Makes Them Hot (And Us Not)

1: Road Weariers. They like playing in their own litter box just a tiny bit less than we like playing in ours – and of late, we haven’t even been doing all that great at Verizon. But where they just have us beat cold is on the road.  The Blueshirts’ 18-7-3 away record is a near inversion of our 9-14-3, with many of our road wins in Canada, which just feels like it should count a little less or something. By this measure, they have serious advantage over us Sunday.

Henrik Lundqvist

2: It’s Good To Be King. There’s a reason Henrik Lundqvist is called King, and it isn’t because he won the looks lottery. The Rangers’ goals for/against of 145/106, is one of the best differentials going and the single stingiest net in the NHL, due largely to the herring-gobbler Lundqvist. You think Tomáš Vokoun looks hot at .920%? Try the King’s .936%. Add to this the fact that the Rangers aren’t shooting  as well as you might think a top team should, and a forecheck that actually works, and it equals a monster in the twine. Plus, he’s a doodyhead.

3: Can Mike Come Out And Play? The Rangers have their over-achievers (Derek Stepan with 6 points in his last 5, and Marian Gaborik with 27G/21A, plus-16 are but two) and their disappointments (Marc Staal, only recently back on the ice, is 0/0 in his last five outings.) But they are generally a healthy team – that weird hit Fedotenko recently took from his own stick one exception – and even their non-stars like Dan Girardi and Ryan “Shillelagh-Face” McDonagh are playing with star-like abandon.

If only the same could be said about the Caps. Laich’s almost-injury a few days back should have sent shivers through the team. We are thin where it counts most, and don’t seem to be making full use of those who are healthy. In addition to missing a vowel, Hamrlik is also missing opportunities lately, and Carlson seems all but forgotten. (Perhaps he should bring a towel.) And now Knoobs is game-day decision for a healthy scratch.

The OT

Ryan McDonagh

We really liked what we saw against the Panthers; we really didn’t like what we saw against the Bruins. We liked the Habs game; we hated the Hurricanes. In general, there’s too much uppy-down on the ice; too many fluky shots or lazy first period play. When we decide to dig in and fight back we’re great, but there have just been too many moments when we’ve folded too early. And yes, we’re well aware that these same things have been said countless times before.

The ace up our sleeve? This is the Capitals’ Dads weekend, and the team shipped up by train with all the fathers in tow. We’re thinking that this is a very good thing. It’s one thing to play in front of a house full of fans in red (or shnooks in blue) but entirely something else to play in front of your biggest boosters.

It’ll be hard, and it may be ugly, but Sunday we’re pulling for an upset Caps victory.

Meme Of The Day

In honor of the Caps Casino Night. As we say in the PuckBuddys house, we’d hit that!

Photo credit: Chris Gordon (Click to enlarge. He’s got beautiful blue eyes, you know.)

Evgeny Kuznetsov has had quite a year. Not only did he win a gold medal with Team Russia in the 2011 World Junior Championship, become the youngest player to ever be in the KHL All-Star Game and get engaged, but he also had the second-most goals ever in a season for a Russian player under 19-years old (17 to be exact). But how can we measure his success compared to the NHL?

Gabe over at Behind the Net adopted Bill James’ concept of minor league equivalencies to estimate how well a player’s scoring ability will translate to the NHL. For example, if a forward scores 70 points in the AHL we don’t expect that same player to score 70 points in the big leagues due to a decrease in ice time and power play minutes with other factors including the quality of line-mates also playing in.

These equivalencies are not predictions of what a player will do, but instead an evaluation of what that player has done. When I looked at the Hershey Bears last summer it was evident that Keith Aucoin and Alexandre Giroux, while having strong AHL campaigns, would struggle to find a spot at the National Hockey League level based on the translation of performance to the higher level of NHL play.

As for Kuznetsov, let me say first that the competition level in the Kontinental Hockey League is much greater than the AHL. The game may be slower and less physical, but make no mistake: given two players at the same position and age, with the same ice time and stats, the KHL player will be the better bet in the NHL.

The KHL has come a long way in providing detailed stats, including ice time, so we can get a complete picture of not only what his NHL performance will translate to but also what we could project for him going forward.

First, the NHL equivalency:

Forty-five points scored would put him fourth highest on Washington’s leaderboard, just ahead of Brooks Laich and alongside Derek Stepan of the New York Rangers in rookie production for centers. With Kuznetsov’s gold medal performance and regular season play, I don’t find this out of the realm of possibility if he was given a full 82 game schedule .

Now that we know what he would have produced at the NHL level, we can project the next two years and see if it makes sense to rush him or let him develop in the KHL one more year.

Kuznetsov would be projected to play more NHL games in 2012-13, but his production would suffer a bit. This is not unexpected — we see phenoms regress in their sophomore season all the time. It is important to understand that it is not really a “sophomore jinx” as much as it is a rookie overachieving his first year. In 2013-14 we can expect to see Kuznetsov beginning to realize his full NHL value, with Tom Awad’s GVT metric climbing over NHL replacement level. This is when an organization wants to start the clock on a player’s salary-controlled years in order to maximize their draft asset to its fullest potential.

Caps fans should hope Kuznetsov is just posturing when he says he may stay in the KHL long-term, but let’s feel good he is developing in a tougher environment so when he does come to the big club his impact will be felt right away.

Additional reporting by Ian Oland and Chris Gordon.

Photo credit: Chris Gordon

Mike Green was back in a Capitals jersey on Friday, though unfortunately for him, he won’t be seeing game action in one for at least a week. Suffering from a concussion after taking a blow to the head from Derek Stepan of the Rangers, Green was placed on long-term injured reserve, holding him out until March 22nd at the earliest. Russian Machine Never Breaks caught up with the 25 year-old Canadian on Friday at the White House. Green had been invited to participate in a street hockey clinic at part of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. The First Lady even asked Green how to drop the puck to begin the event. “I told her, ‘Just drop it. Don’t throw it up in the air,’ Green recalled. “She was fine.” He also had a front row seat when the Chicago Blackhawks were honored for their 2010 Stanley Cup championship by President Barack Obama. I assume, however, he would me much happier to be on the other side of that picture next year.

Q: How are you feeling?

“I am getting better. I’ve started skating. So it is just about me getting healthy everyday. When I am ready, I’ll play.”

Q: What’s your view on the increase of head injuries in the game?

“There is always going to be that risk factor. You know it’s unfortunate the way things have gone lately, but you know it’s a part of the game. I mean, no matter what sport you play you are at risk, and we understand that. It’s something that obviously has to be watched and taken care of or taken action when needed.”

Q: Did you feel NHL was right not to suspend Zdeno Chara for his hit of Max Pacioretty?

“It’s their decision. I don’t comment on decisions they make. But you know it’s unfortunate situation for the player from Montreal. I know as a player that you never mean to put somebody out or injure them to that degree. We wouldn’t like to see that ever, but it does happen.”

Photo credit: Rob Carr

The one bright spot: Neil's latest Capitals Insider post about Ovi was included as part of game's Media's Notes at Verizon Center.

Shutout and embarrassed by the New York Rangers. Now where have I heard that before? The Caps certainly did their best December 12 impression on Friday night, with the added twist of dropping the game in front of their home fans, who didn’t respond kindly.

“I am absolutely not happy,” said Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau. “I mean our fans deserve better. That’s three games in a row at home. You know, we deserved to get booed there. It’s not fun when you come home and you got the best fans in the world and you play like that.”

The first action in the contest came when Jason Chimera delivered a hard check along the boards to the Rangers’ Michael Sauer, who didn’t take well to Chimera’s rough play. After a little back and forth the two dropped the gloves with neither getting too much of an upper hand. Just under six minutes into the game the period got ugly for the Caps. It started when Mike Green and Derek Stepan went for the puck in the corner with Stepan catching Green with an elbow. The recently injured Green immediately hit the ice, clutching his head before heading to the locker room as soon as play stopped. Just seconds after Green’s injury Steve Eminger gave the Rangers the lead, as the puck knuckled past Caps goalie Michal Neuvirth. At 14:47 in the period Sauer got into the action again setting up Erik Christensen in front of Washington’s net, putting New York up by two. The Capitals would get a chance to rally when Alex Ovechkin skated down the wing, beat Ryan McDonagh, and fired a shot on Rangers ‘keeper Henrik Lundqvist as he slid down the ice on his rear. Sounds familiar, eh? This time, however, Ovi was unsuccessful.

In the second frame, things would only get worse for the Capitals. At 4:19, while on the power play, Christensen would pot his second of the night, set up by an excellent backhand pass from Ryan Callahan. The Caps in-game entertainment crew responded by playing “Unleash the Fury” much earlier than usual. But that did little to stop Washington’s poor play as later in the period Stepan would extend New York’s lead to four after a misplay by Neuvirth.

In the third, the Rangers put a five-spot on the Caps when Vinny Prospal flicked a wrist shot over Neuvirth’s shoulder. But that wouldn’t be it. Brian Boyle would extend the lead once again in the waining moments of the game. Are you still reading? Rangers rout Caps, 6-0.

• More on the biggest news of night, the headshot Mike Green took from Derek Stepan. After Green cross-checked the rookie behind the net, Stepan raised his arm and struck Green square in the jaw with a hit in the corner. Bruce Boudreau said after the game that the Capitals young gun was “day-to-day” and that he will not travel with the team to Long Island. Concerning the blow, it was an unnecessarily aggressive play by Stepan and, some would argue, a dirty one as well. Boudreau, however, seemed indicate he was not of that mind. Regardless, one wonders why none of Green’s teammate stood up him, especially rough-and-tumble John Erskine, who had a front row seat on the play. Once again, the Caps best defenseman will be shelved, with Green only playing 2:25 of ice time since coming back from his last injury.
• It feels almost wrong to single out one player for their poor performance tonight, but Boyd Gordon was especially bad in his 10:03 of ice time. Gordon was on the ice for zero scoring chances for while being on the ice for six against, four of which led to Rangers goals. New York’s second goal of the game, Christensen’s first of the night, was due particularly to his bad coverage in front of the net and his failure to back up his teammate. After Karl Alzner went for a big hit on Boyle in the corner, Alzner failed to get back to his position in front of the net. Gordon tentatively stayed in no man’s land and Christensen got the easy lay up.
• Alex Semin took a stick penalty. Not much new there. Still, Sasha Minor’s ill-advised hook led to goal number three. The biggest shock? Boudreau sent him back out one shift later. Lesson learned?
• If you’re feeling grumpy about Eminger scoring tonight just remember he was the guy the Capitals traded to move up in the 2008 draft, selecting John Carlson. Do you feel better? Didn’t think so.
• Mike Vogel reports that the Capitals current streak of 38 straight games without scoring more than one power play goal is a franchise record.
• Nicklas Backstrom took just one faceoff, an offensive zone draw against Brandon Dubinsky which the Swede won. Boudreau indicated after the game that Backstrom was simply too sore to go at it in the dot and added that he “showed so much courage playing” through his injury.
• The chances of the Capitals being shutout by the Rangers 0-7 and 0-6 in two of out four games? 15,158 to one.
• Alex Ovechkin looked like the only Capital who gave much of a hoot tonight. He had eight shots, six hits and had several dazzling moves, one of which drew a penalty. However, the turning point of the game could have been his failure to score on a 2-on-1 with Mike Knuble early in the first period. If his shot would have squeaked through Lundqvist’s seven-hole, the tide might have turned.
• Worth noting: the Capitals only managed two even strength chances in the game’s final 13 minutes, down five goals for most of that time. They completely gave up down the stretch, instead of showing some pride. And when you put out an embarrassing effort like that, Verizon Center’s going to look like this.
• Only four Capitals players (Ovechkin, Mike Knuble, Matt Hendricks and Marcus Johansson) made themselves available to the media after the game.

Joe B. Suit of the night

This was simply an awful showing from the men in red.

“It is just crazy how many goals they put in against us,” Knuble said. “It is not fun for us. Is it something they are doing? Are they that great offensively? Or are we really breaking down? That is for all of us to decide in our room.”

“I think it’s probably the worst home loss I have been associated with in ten years plus,” said Boudreau.

Now, the team is left to pick of the pieces from this disaster and move on.

“It has been a little bit maddening for us,” Knuble said. “We haven’t been able to mount a sustained streak. We have had streaks in losses. We have sustained those, but not the winning ones. To gain ground this time of year you have got to throw two, three, four wins together… it is not who we are. We are better team than a team that loses one, wins one, win two, lose two. We are a better team than .500 hockey. That is for sure.”

Said Matt Hendricks, “Well, there are answers out there. We are going to find them.”

With only 20 games left this season, those answers can’t come soon enough.

Additional reporting by Ian Oland and Neil Greenberg.

The New York Post’s Larry Brooks reports that the NHL will review the hit. If this isn’t the definition of a headshot, I don’t know what is. Do you think Stepan should be suspended? Let us know in the comments below.

UPDATE: Steve Zipay, who covers the Rangers for Newsday, reports that Stepan will not be suspended. However, Bob McKenzie of TSN tweeted that Stepan has been fined for his actions.